Governor Baker tours Nashoba Tech in Westford

Thursday

On Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker visited Nashoba Valley Technical High School to tour the upgraded Engineering Academy and to award $9.5 million in Skills Capital Grants.

In the last two years, the Baker-Polito administration has awarded more than $36 million in Skills Capital Grants. NVTHS has received approximately $1 million as part of the Massachusetts Workforce Skills Capital Grant Program, which the school has used to expand its advanced manufacturing career programming and purchase new equipment for its Engineering Academy. According to the Executive Office of Education, the program’s intent is “to increase the capacity and quality of vocational training and education by providing funds to eligible schools and institutions for the purchase/installation of capital equipment.”

Nashoba Tech has purchased a number of items with the latest grant including Sawyer Collaborative Robots from Rethink Robotics, Fanuc Lightweight Delta Robots, and FaroArm CMMs, as well as workstations and laptops for each student.

“The grant enabled us to re-imagine the use of the program space”, said Gabriella White, director of curriculum at NVTHS, “As new technology is developed, we adjust our program accordingly to ensure that our students will be prepared for the workforce of tomorrow.”

Jeff Scheminger, an engineering teacher and eight-year veteran at NVTHS, said students have jumped in and really taken to the new technology. The new equipment has been implemented in the curriculum from carpentry to mechanical engineering. Projects include all juniors making steam engines and Nashoba partnering with UMass Lowell on electrical vehicles.

Baker shook hands with school officials and students before making a brief statement congratulating Nashoba and sharing his hope that the grants received would translate to “all sorts of skill building opportunities” and work possibilities. The governor then toured the new Engineering Academy and was shown equipment purchased with the latest $495,000 Skills Capital Grant.

A student demonstrated the new Sawyer Collaborative Robot by programing it to take the governor’s wallet from his hand. At first the robot would not let go of the governor’s wallet and then, before the Governor could catch it, the robot dropped his wallet on the ground.

After touring the facility, Baker addressed a room full of government officials and educational institution representatives to award $9.5 million in the latest round of Skills Capital Grants. Thirty-two high schools, community colleges and educational institutions received the grants. He characterized the grants as money “extremely well spent”.

Secretary Rosalin Acosta of Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development partnered with the governor on the Workforce Skills Capital Grant Program. She said that “connecting these grants to the needs of employers” was an integral part of the program and that these grants get “high school students ready for the economy”.

Representatives from each institution came up to the podium to receive an envelope and take their photo with Baker and Acosta. Sen. Eileen Donoghue concluded the proceedings by congratulating the grant recipients and saying that these kinds of grants are important because “the jobs of the future aren’t going to look like the jobs of today.”